Daniel Coats on Budget & Economy

Republican Jr Senator (IN)

Commitment to no new spending unless offset & paid for

Coats said the nation is facing serious problems with the economy as it enters the third year of the recession. "We have not seen light at the end of the tunnel," said Coats. "We have a long way to go."

President Barack Obama's "summer of recovery" has been anything but, Coats said. Coats lambasted
Democrats for spending at a pace that's unsustainable and piling up debt the nation cannot pay back. "There has to be a commitment to no new spending without it being offset and paid for," said
Coats. "No more swiping the credit card and pumping and using debt to finance new spending."

This election, Coats said, needs to be relative to restoring the economy for future generations.

Disapprove of increasing the debt limit.

Coats co-sponsored Joint Resolution on Debt Limit

Congressional Summary:JOINT RESOLUTION: Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives: That Congress disapproves of the President's exercise of authority to increase the debt limit, as submitted on Jan. 12, 2012.

OnTheIssues Explanation: On Jan. 12, 2012, Pres. Obama notified Congress of his intent to raise the nation's debt ceiling by $1.2 trillion, two weeks after he had postponed the request to give lawmakers more time to consider the action. Congress then had 15 days to say no before the debt ceiling is automatically raised from $15.2 trillion to $16.4 trillion. Hence the debt ceiling was increased.

In Aug. 2011, the US government was nearly shut down by an impasse over raising the debt ceiling; under an agreement reached then, the President could raise the debt limit in three increments while also implementing $2.4 trillion in budget cuts. The agreement also gave Congress the option of voting to block each of the debt-ceiling increases by passing a "resolution of disapproval." The House disapproved; the Senate, by declining to vote in the 15-day window, killed the Resolution. Even if the resolution were passed, Pres. Obama could veto it; which could be overridden by a 2/3 majority in the House and Senate. The House vote only had 57% approval, not enough for the 67% override requirement, so the Senate vote became moot. The same set of actions occurred in Sept. 2011 for the first debt ceiling increase.